Philosophy

-distinct from Science

-based on analytic understanding of the nature of truth asserted about specific topics of issues
-What is the nature of truth? How do we know what we know?

Sciences
-based on empirical data, tested theories, and carefully contrived observations
-it does not ask the question about the nature of truth

The development of the social sciences during the modern period was made possible by several
large scale social upheavals and pivotal events.

Science Humanities

Pure Science Visual Arts

Applied Science Performing Arts

Social Science Religion

Law

Linguistics

History

Unprecedented Growth of Science

The Scientific Revolution

-(which begun with Nicholas Copernicus) historical changes in thought and belief, to changes in
social and institutional organization, that unfolded in Europe roughly between 1550 to 1700
-culminated in the works of Isaac Newton which proposed universal laws of motion and a
mechanical model of the universe
The secularization of learning and education
-the triumph of Reason (specifically Western Reason) and science over dogma and religious
authority begun with the Reformation.

Protestant Movement
-led by Martin Luther
-eroded the power of the Roman Catholic Church
-it challenged the infallibility of the Pope and democratized the interpretation of the Bible

Enlightenment
-largely a cultural movement
-emphasized rationalism as well as political and economic theory
-it clearly built on the Scientific Revolution

Age of Enlightenment
-philosophers led by Immanuel Kant challenged the use of metaphysics or absolute truth derived
mainly from unjustified tradition and authority (such as the existence of God)
-Kant advocated the use of reason in order to know the nature of the world and human beings

Medieval Period
-universities relied mainly on religious tradition and the Bible to explain the nature of the universe
and the place of human being in the grand scheme of things
-modern universities started to rely on science and its method to interpret the world
Max Weber (one of the leading figures in Modern Sociology):
described this process as rationalization
Rationalization social life is more and more subjected to calculation and prediction
(calculation and prediction can only be achieved if human beings and society rely on regularities
established by modern science)

Discovery of Germ Theory by Louis Pasteur (the development of vaccination)

-people more and more relied on medical knowledge to deal with diseases
-Science has triumphed, as Francois Lyotard, a French sociologist point out, because of provided
reliable results

Separation between different social spheres, especially between the church and the universities.
The collapse of religious authority and the gradual erosion of religious domination over
social life of the people led to the use of humanistic resources such as ancient philosophy and
humanities to advance human knowledge of independent Revelation

The Rise of the Universities

Education is the single most important factor in the rise of social sciences.
-secular subjects or subjects dealing with world proliferated in the universities
-merchants and capitalists supported universities and institutions of secular learning institutions
because they become the hub of training future scientists, technocrats and technological innovators

The dissolution of feudal social relations

-with the intensification of commerce and trade in the 17th century, many medieval guilds or
workers cooperatives were dissolved and were absorbed into the emerging factory system
Trade and Commerce
Marco Polo (Italian merchant traveller from Venice)
-his travels were recorded in Livres des merveilles du monde (introduced the Europeans to Asia and
China)
-inspired Columbuss five journeys to America and Magellans circumnavigation of the world
-the travels of this period fed the imaginations of the Europeans with vivid descriptions of places
whose very existence they had never been aware of

The rise of individualism

-the intensification of commerce and trade gradually replaced barter with the introduction of money
and banking system
-modern individuals asserted their freedom to choose
-through education and the spread of scientific worldview, people saw their lives as no longer at the
mercy of fate or destiny
*Individualism is simply the recognition of the power of the individual to assert his/her freedom
against the norms and structures of society

The birth of social sciences as response to social turmoil of modern period

Sociology
-branch of the social sciences
-deals with the scientific study of human interactions, social groups and institutions, whole societies
and the human world as such

Harriet Martineau
-writer, ethnographer, political economist, sociologist
-Mother of Sociology

Karl Marx
-Father of Scientific Socialism

Isidore Auguste Marie Francois Xavier Comte

-Father of Sociology

Emile Durkheim
-Pioneer of Functionalism in Sociology

Max Weber
-Pioneer of Interpretative Sociology

ANTHROPOLOGY

Franz Boas
-Father of American Anthropology

Bronislaw Kaspr Malinowski

-anthropologist and ethnographer

Alfred Reginald Radcliffe Brown

-anthropologist who developed the Theory of Structural Functionalism
Political Science
-part of the social sciences that deals with the study of politics, power and government
-studies how even the most private and personal decisions of individuals are influenced by collective
decisions of a community

Man is by nature a political animal Aristotle

Sikolohiyang Pilipino (SP)

-borne out of this move to indigenize social sciences in the Philippines

Two leading exponents of SP:

Narcisa Paredes-Canilao and Maria Ana Babaran-Diaz
-wrote Sikolohiyang Pilipino refers to the psychology borne out of the experience, thought and
orientation of Filipinos, based on the full use of the Filipino culture and language
-the idea is that the social sciences, such as western academic psychology, are very much a product
of the common sense concepts and lived daily realities of the white male fathers of psychology, their
respective communities and social histories

With globalization, social sciences welcome the proliferation of different social theories and
ideological orientations

The critique of Eurocentrism of traditional social sciences allows indigenous cultures and
other non-western subjugated knowledges to reclaim their voices.
Other than decolonizing western social sciences, social sciences are also being transformed
by feminism and post-modern currents.